


Bitter Fruit Made Sweet

by tesla_jo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety Disorder, Force Bond (Star Wars), Kidnapping, M/M, No Underage Sex, Obikin Big Bang 2018, Role Reversal, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Suitless Vader, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-04-20 12:19:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14260821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tesla_jo/pseuds/tesla_jo
Summary: After killing Sidious, Vader is sent back in time to when Obi-wan is sent to Bandomeer.  Determined to fix his own future by changing Obi-wan's past so he can become the teacher young Anakin will need so he doesn't also fall, he decide to take on his future Master's training himself.  Eventually as it comes closer to when he would need to share Obi-wan with his younger self, he finds himself in conflict with his own nature.  The Sith in him wants to possess Obi-wan completely, while at the same time he hasn't felt this close to the Light since before his fall.





	1. Part A1

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank everyone at the OBB discord for being supportive and helpful through the process. I would especially like to thank the artist who worked with me and even helped me name the droid in this work, happygiraffe. Her image is at the bottom of Chapter 5.

Chapter 1

3 years into the empire’s existence, Vader made a realization that Palpatine was a kriffing liar. The burning that had made thoughts difficult during his fall had ended with one final massive explosion that blew out his temper. These days it still burned, but more from such frigid ice that was so cold it was hot. That was perhaps the one good thing that had happened because of Padme’s death. It had taken time but eventually he had come back enough to himself to see through the lies.

The emperor no longer even bothered with his subtle manipulations of before. He showed glee and fanned the flames of Vader’s anger and despair upon his wife’s death. Now he treated him as nothing more than a tool and certainly no better than the Jedi council had. With time and distance he saw Mustafar as the exploitation it was of his fears and anger to curb him into nothing more than Sidious’s attack dog others accused him of being.

Padme had accompanied Palpatine under the impression that he wanted her to talk Anakin down from killing the already dead Separatist leaders. Obi-wan had managed to follow them in another ship and arrived during the emotional discussion between the lovers which only made the situation more turbulent. Palpatine had previously insinuated a betrayal by his most trusted together against him. Rhetoric has never been a skill of Anakin’s and having them both arguing against him, he had felt ganged up upon. Feeling cornered and defensive, he lashed out with a force choke on Padme and drew his light saber against Obi-wan. 

The fight was brutal in its shortness as Obi-wan tried to reason with him while Palpatine goaded him forward. Afterwards he could remember the similarities to Dooku’s death, a disarmed man trying to make him understand and Sidious’s whispers making his head too loud with noise and just like before a strike with a light saber brought a deafening silence, but not before “I loved you Anakin. You were my brother,” burned its way into his brain. 

He stumbled his way to Padme on the ground with only a vague awareness of tears streaming down his face. Sound finally rushed back in with his own screams of denial as he became aware of her unnatural stillness and what it meant. Pleas to both the force and his new master were ignored, as this was his own doing, there was nothing to fix it and was an abject lesson in weaknesses tying him down. Now without these anchors holding him back he could fully embrace his power in the dark side. 

Inside though instead of freeing him he felt more like a puppet with his strings cut lying fallen and limp. Vader became numbness that ruled him until he could finally work through it all and with that came this icy hatred of his new master. Palpatine was a kriffing liar. He had lied about his regard for Anakin, he lied about Padme and most of all he lied about Obi-wan and one day he will die because of it.

During the empire’s growing pains he has grieved for his lost wife, but the part that haunts him is how wrong he was about Obi-wan. He knew that his former master had always had fondness for him; but that it was love and attachment stretching beyond the bounds of the Code had surprised him. He dwelled on their time together to find the evidence that he had missed before to find the small, subtle ways Obi-wan had shown him his affection. It wasn’t as plainly obviously like Anakin was used to from either his mother or wife but any lingering doubts he might have had were relinquished every time he could bear to make himself remember Mustafar. That man that came after him was not there as a Jedi, but as a friend and brother whose love and loyalty, just like Anakin’s wife’s, was betrayed cruelly by his own obtuseness.

The emperor’s day of reckoning arrived sooner than Vader had thought. Originally he had decided to stay his hand to learn more from his master and let him do the hard work of making an empire. The joke was on him as Sidious only taught him enough to help hone his skills hunting down the remaining Jedi, but nothing advanced and was kept busy being a visible threat to keep in line any opponents of the empire. He wasn’t even trusted with most of Palpatine’s plans as he had others for that which he kept close to his chest and wasn’t’ until later that he would crow about these things to Vader.

Called into audience for a debriefing of his latest assignment, it wasn’t’ until Vader was about to be dismissed that his master casually mentioned how a dark adept of his had come close to killing a priority target but wasn’t a complete failure. The attempt had left the target wounded and on the run and an ally had been disposed of.

“Togrutas are hard to kill but at least the clone protecting her is gone. She won’t have anywhere left to hide from us. It’s only a matter of time. Perhaps you’d enjoy finishing the chase Lord Vader? After all you are familiar with this particular Togruta, but I would recommend you hurry. My hand reported that her wounds were severe enough he was surprised she managed to get ahead of him. What say you?”

Ahsoka, his “Snips” even if she probably no longer considered herself Anakin’s ,that was who the emperor was asking if he wanted to finish hunting down. Of all the gall the man had and this obviously was another test of his loyalty and anger. The dead clone could be a few as he knew some of the 501st were missing from Order 66. All of them were always especially protective of Ahsoka, but he just knew that in this case if he had looked at the body he would have recognized Rex. 

A secret hope he had buried deep was that perhaps as technically no longer a Jedi Ahsoka would have been spared of the purge but to find out that Sidious had been prioritizing her brought all that icy hatred and transmuted it once again into that pure bright nova burning into him looking for a suitable place let it consume before it swallowed Anakin himself. The next thing he knew Sidious was cackling through a Force Choke. As the laughter further enraged him he found himself trying to not only crush his throat, but his whole being.

“So much anger, yet still so unskilled and unfocused. You will never defeat me like this. You will forever be my slave to do my bidding at this rate Vader. So disappointing.” He was able to wheeze out as he countered the crushing strength of the Force brought against him. Seeking to put Vader into his place the sparks of lightning erupted from him into Vader’s body.

Knowing how draining the lightning was to its victim and knowing that his opportunity was slipping away, Anakin once again brought that awful depth of power he had in the Force to bear before changing its momentum and for once surprising this particular opponent. A shower of blood misted everywhere as the body of Emperor Palpatine was ripped apart. His head rolling past Vader while other limbs scattered elsewhere.

The Force itself seemed to take a deep breath and hold it and then a storm was suddenly there in the throne room with Vader at its eye. Unlike a natural storm, this eye was anything but calm; instead it was the directed point of the entire storm’s fury. It was almost like the Force Lightning that he had been attacked with earlier was being revisited upon him threefold. He had no idea why this manifestation of the Force was occurring. Maybe it had something to do with that damned prophecy of him being the Chosen One and bringing Balance. Had he finally lived up to his destiny? 

The Jedi Order was gone except for the few scattered broken individuals that had escaped these last few years and were no longer a threat and he was now the last remaining Sith. He had swept them all from the board and he was all that remained, perhaps that’s why the Force had gathered like this with no longer any other recipients for its focus. So in a way he had all the power in the galaxy. At one time he would have enjoyed this, but what was the point now when it was all he had. The family he wanted to share his life with was gone. 

So hollow his supposed victory was as the power of the Force set his nervous system alight, as it strung him out; if only Obi-wan had shown him the love he had felt for him in the demonstrative way he needed he might not have brought the galaxy to its knees. If only he could have had that acting as fortitude against his fears and doubts that have plagued him ever since he left Tatooine, maybe he could have had it all: his wife, his child, his padawan, and his brother. As everything whites out as the apex of the storm hit, he thought to himself, “if only….”


	2. Part A2

Chapter 2

Only once had Anakin tagged along with his master on a short mission to collect the info that Quinlan Vos had gathered while undercover. When Vos had heard Obi-wan was the one coming reportedly his comment was, “I know just the place. He’ll love it.” The location in question was dirty, smelly and clientele made Tantooine’s cantinas looked civilized. 

Quinlan Vos was the type of Jedi so unlike the council members that Anakin should have liked him if only he didn’t’ find him so completely obnoxious. Vos had already found a booth in a dark corner and had a bottle and glasses set in front of him. He passed a few data chips over and then started pouring while flagging down the server to “get something for the kid to drink.” Insulted he asked for a glass to partake of the bottle on the table with the older Jedi. Vos shrugged it off.

“Don’t say you weren’t warned if you die from drinking with us and no asking us to kill you later either kid. Pretty sure that’s against the code somewhere, killing fellow Jedi.”

The first shot had the decidedly unfortunate flavor that was alarmingly close to the time Anakin was working on his speeder, scraped a knuckle and stuck in his mouth to stop the bleeding and discovered the taste of the engine degreaser he had been working with. As a matter of pride, he tried his best to stymie his choking coughs with his eyes tearing and nose running. Voice still not useable through the burning in his throat he could only nod his head when Vos asked him through his guffaws if he wanted another. Manfully he attempted to keep up with other Jedi which he knew even before he started it was a mistake.

Most of the night was lost to him between sessions of feeling like he was in hyperspace while sitting in the booth and bouts of blackness. He was vaguely aware that at some point a brawl started and somehow he had unknowingly joined it. The next thing was the disorientating sensation of being carried over Vos’s shoulder while running from the local law enforcement.

“Ah good, you’re awake kid. Kenobi should be here any time now with the speeder so if you need to throw up, wait 'til then. You were doing pretty good holding your own back there until that stool to the back of the head. Boy I don’t’ envy you tomorrow, and I suppose I should feel sorry for Kenobi but he brought you so he gets to deal with your consequences. Ah its good being padawan free again.”

Just as he was coming up with something hopefully cutting the fore mentioned speeder showed up. Dumped in the back and left to get upright on his own as it took off. His master later swore he drove the same sedate way he tended to, but Anakin swore he was getting back at him and spent the ride hanging over the side leaving a trail of vomit in their wake. 

That was the last he remembered of the night until waking up the next morning passed out on the floor in a pile of his own drool. Staggering into the shower he let the water try to wash it all away and eventually threw his sopping clothes out after a case of dry heaves as he leaned against the tile and let the water pelt him. He was still a sorry sight after he dragged himself out as the water was turning arctic when he looked in the mirror. Not one but two black eyes, a split lip, and bruises lined his torso as souvenirs of the night. He swore never again as his master came into the room looking his usual level of refresh and impeccable grooming.

This was the almost the exact same feeling Vader had as he woke up though he knows that under most circumstances he had sworn off alcohol. He hurt, oh sweet force did he hurt, and part of that might have something to do with the hard surface he was on. Making himself focus he determined the ambient noises were too urban for him to be imprisoned in a cell somewhere even if that’s the comfort levels he was experiencing. 

Forcing his eyes to work he realized he was in a really clean alley. As he tried to access the Force he felt overtaxed and close to a case of burnout but what he could determine was a softer gentler version than he was used to. The dark side was still hovering in the background, but the air itself was much less saturated than he was accustomed to. Scrubbing his hands over his face started making dry flakes come off that he belatedly realized was blood. Assessing his condition more fully he realized he was covered in drying blood and where ever he was he would look quite the sight, especially in this tranquil neighborhood. Thankfully a black cloak with the hood drawn would be less suspicious than his abattoir façade.

Staggering around and trying not to lean against walls while making his way to a more sheltered location it finally dawned on him where he was at. On the outset it should have been obvious that this was Coruscant as nowhere else could ever be comparable to the city planet, but the particular area he awoke in had not looked this way for years. It was one of the areas that was damaged during the Battle of Coruscant during the last part of the Clone Wars

This was close to what he remembered it looking like before the war started. It was hard to reconcile it with his current knowledge because of the massive changes. Palpatine had used the location’s destruction as another way of legitimization. The battle had been the one where he had been kidnapped but obviously overcame that adversity to rise to even higher power as emperor. So this had been the site chosen to have the Imperial Center built that was his headquarters and included an audience room with the throne he used most often.

Trying to compare how he last remembers the area and its current state in front of him, he stumbles in shock. The alley, it would have been approximately where Vader had his last meeting with the Sith Lord. If this wasn’t some Force vision or illusion, had he really been transported? Anakin liked to think of himself as a realist and esoteric theories of something like what had appeared to have happened had never interested him as the likelihood seemed impossible, but the Force had reacted violently upon Sidious’s death so could this be the accidental end result?

Coruscant being Coruscant he should make his way into the lower levels. Next was finding a place to hold up and make his appearance less noticeable. Some rest then to heal his ability with the Force, that he even needed to do so was plenty of evidence that his guess at his situation was accurate. With the Force back on his side, he could find out when he was thrown back to, though that brought up another potential problem of his Dark Side user status here near the heart of the Jedi’s power. The Dark Side had done much to cloud things for years, but the bit of the Force he could just barely taste had little to none of that dark haze that he could sense. He would have to be careful then.

The lower levels of Coruscant lacked the security measures and enforcement that the higher and so called “civilized” levels had. The trick with navigating these levels was to not only blend in but also carry an air of threat that made the predators who hunted the area not see a person as a mark. Vader could definitely put a “don’t mess with me” aura even without the Force. However without any resources, he would need to be one of these predators himself. 

Coming up from behind a spice dealer in a dim area without any security was just as satisfying as he remembered. Stripping the dealer of most of his possessions gave him a couple IDs, an assortment of currency though most of it Republic credits, a small supply of spice, a blaster with holster, a holdout, a vibroknife, a comlink unit, and a data pad. He attached the blaster visibly to his belt as that would help with blending in. 

A barely there nudge from the Force then directed him to a hostel where he used some of his credits for a room for a couple days. His slicing skills would make the comlink and data pad useful when he wasn’t so tired but for now they could wait. Taking what clothes would clean easily into the fresher with him and leaving the rest in a pile took care of the essentials. Exhausted, he threw himself naked except for his light saber onto the sleeper and was out almost immediately.


	3. Part A3

Chapter 3

When he awoke he knew he must have slept clean through the night and well into the next day as he was completely refreshed. The Force burnout was even mostly abated, so long as he didn’t over tax himself with any extraordinary feats. The most pressing thing in fact was being utterly ravenous. Packing up his belongings, not trusting them to stay safe unattended in the room he set out to get something to eat and figure out when he was and then probably figure out how to contact Obi-wan.

He did and didn’t regret his life. Experiences made a person after all and as awful as some of them were, they had also formed him into the man he was today, whenever today now was. Being transported as himself meant he had a chance to change events but not have to live his life over again either. In fact there should be another younger version of him out there right now while he was a grown man of 25. There were certain events he would like his younger counterpart to experience as well, but others absence that should make his life better in other ways. With his insights he was confident him and Obi-wan could make young Anakin’s goal of being the great Jedi he had envisioned being for his mom into this time’s reality.

Just thinking of the possibilities was making him itch to start doing something even though he had barely been here more than day. Almost everyone had always described him as someone always in motion. Even when waiting he had a tendency to fidget if not outright pace which had led Obi-wan to teach him moving meditations when he was unavailable to jointly lead Anakin in traditional meditation. Tinkering was an extension of that which gave his hands something to do and even something for his brain to zone on. Luckily for him he had a comlink and data pad he needed to work on anyway.

Both models were older than he personally preferred to use, but not unfamiliar what with the Jedi hating to throw away anything that couldn’t be fixed and growing up on a world like Tatooine that had a similar mindset. He wiped both so the former owner couldn’t track him down. He spliced the comlink to a blank short term code to use. Later he could get a long term one but for now a disposable one suited his purposes. Sighing to himself at his predictable behavior he keyed in Obi-wan’s code long since memorized and unchanged without a real plan of what to do beyond getting his former master to meet him as the other details could be worked out between the two of them.

Of course that required Obi-wan to answer his comlink which he didn’t meaning he most likely was off planet on a mission if he didn’t respond in the next few hours of trying. Anakin supposed then the prudent thing would be to wait for his return while periodically trying. The thing was that the Force took some level of pleasure of turning even short and simple diplomatic missions into month long chases across the galaxy and probably involved a capture and break out for Obi-wan in which case he could be waiting a very long time wherein turn meant Anakin somehow getting himself into trouble through impatience and boredom. 

Following that logic the prudent thing to do would be to sneak into the temple to slice into their system to find out where Obi-wan had gone and how long before his return. Arguably not even his worst questionable plan he had ever come up with though that may have said a lot about how his life had lead him to this moment. There were positive factors for advancing the execution of his latest bad idea this time. 

First was his knowledge of the temple and day to day living within it. Next the layout including unused areas and “secret” passages that had mostly unintentionally been created as changes to the temple over time (this knowledge was thanks to his history of sneaking both in and out first as a padawan to explore Coruscant and later to unobtrusively visit Padme). Previous history at illicitly slicing the data system would lower the chances of alerting anyone to his presence and time needed to get the information he wanted. 

The last factor was hiding his dark side signature. During the war Obi-wan had found techniques in the archives that hadn’t been in use for most of the order for generations but had helped save their lives out in the field. That and some techniques Sidious had taught him should enable him to pass any cursory exams. His dark master had taught him a method that had disguised Vader enough to allow him to hunt down survivors of the purge keeping the targets unknowing of the pursuit until too late. It wasn’t the technique Sidious had used to hide in plain sight of the Jedi with most believing him to be a null, but it could hide his dark side signature unless he did more active uses of the Force.

It was with a level of derision and almost disappointment that Vader found himself early the next morning successfully ensconced in a quiet spot in the temple slicing. He had even passed through a moderately occupied area with no challenge as his hooded cloak camouflaged him as one of the Jedi’s’ own. It was this complete complacence that had lead to the Order’s eventual destruction. For all the vaunted words of “always learning in the force are we” that had been an alleged tenet of the Order, in his experience he had found an attitude of omniscience to be prevalent instead. Currently it was to his advantage but would eventually need to be addressed if the Jedi Order was to continue in the future this time.

The only part of his mission that he was being stymied with was the information in the data system. The slicing wasn’t the problem either; it was the blank search results when trying to look up active missions for Obi-wan. Frustrated he performed a general search in the system for his former master finally yielding results, however they were not what he was expecting. Frantic now he pulled every file he could get into that Obi-wan appeared in including medical and uploaded them into his data pad to look over later. Right now he needed to finish and then leave here before his emotions got the better of him as this was not the place for it and they would most definitely be accompanied by a surge of the dark side that he couldn’t hide. 

Leaving more hurriedly from the temple than he had entered but hopefully without arousing suspicions he set off back towards the hostel. Once there he would have somewhat more freedom to panic as his initial plans all had to be rethought. He had been correct that this was Coruscant before the Clone War; however he had been wrong about how long before. He was wrong in thinking his younger self would be facing the traumas of his mother’s death and Geonosis soon. He was wrong because his younger self hadn’t even been born yet. Obi-wan wasn’t a Knight of standing with the Order able to help him act from within for changes but according to the files he had read an infamous initiate. How was his master suppose to help him with galaxy affecting events when he was a child still, what had the Force been thinking to send him this far back?


	4. Part A4

Chapter 4

Gathering himself he once again started looking at the files he had copied from the temple beginning with the one which was still leaving him flabbergasted: the official transfer documents of one Obi-wan Kenobi from initiate to Agricultural Corps. member. He just couldn’t understand how this came to be and had momentarily wondered if his entrance to the past had altered things, but the date showed this to have happened coming onto 2 weeks before his arrival so in theory not his fault.

He was heartily wishing right now he had taken the opportunity to have looked up his masters records years ago so he could at least believe what he was seeing still wasn’t somehow his fault. Trying to understand how this was possible he started reading every file which Obi-wan was even mentioned in, beginning with the report from the Council of Reassignment. Had at one time Obi-wan thought the path of Jedi Knight not for him and had to be convinced otherwise? Not so, this was the foolish decision of the Order to send him away.

They had sited first his reports from the various teachers of his frequent altercations with an age mate named Bruck Chun. The last one had happened right before the transfer and even though it was eventually found that Bruck had lied about the incident; that Obi-wan had been successfully goaded into the ill-thought-out fight in the first place was enough justification to let the decision stand. Reading between the lines, Anakin was able to see his echoes of his own time with other Jedi trainees. The bullying that occurred that the masters were either oblivious to or actively turned a blind eye to was apparently not a new thing. No wonder Obi-wan had always believed him and defended him when similar events had occurred during Anakin’s apprenticeship.

The second damning reason for the transfer was all the write-ups potential masters had made as for reasons why he was not chosen as a padawan when asked. He hadn’t had to go through this, but had watched others do so and remembered Ahsoka talking about it once, but he was still surprised by the number of them. Most commonly cited was a temper most of the masters felt not worth the effort of trying to curb. As Anakin had very rarely seen evidence of said temper, but the few times it had still stayed locked under Obi-wan’s iron will, this reason was complete bantha shit. Also noted was his attachment to his age mates and that this could be a negative tendency to have to train him out of as a con. He was too skilled and driven, not felt malleable enough for these master’s personal teachings to take hold. So in summary he was too angry, too old and too attached to train, oh the irony.

One last puzzling piece was the fact that the few who had not initially been turned off had done so after Yoda convinced them that it would be a poor match, and so, whether intentional or not, the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order had sabotaged any possible pairings Obi-wan might have had. Oh the burning anger on Obi-wan’s behalf was starting to take over as items in his small room started to vibrate but he had never guessed that the Jedi Order had failed even a great Jedi like his master. No wonder they had failed a flawed one like Anakin, and he wondered briefly if that was always to be their legacy: of failing their own, especially their younglings.

One last hope had been that Qui-gon had not initially been available but the very last padawan rejection form was his and it was the most damning of how deluded the Order was. He had once again brought up all the previously listed faults and had tagged on that he felt the boy was destined to fall to the Darkside and it was safer to not train him at all with that possibility in mind. How was this ever the same man who had fought to train an overly powerful 9 year old slave? Perhaps the man had always had unrealistic expectations considering the boy he had judged unworthy had remained a beacon of light until the end no matter what was thrown at him, and the other believed to be a savior had became a Sith.

The path forward of helping Obi-wan helping his not yet born self become a successful Jedi suddenly became obvious, he needed to help Obi-wan become a successful Jedi first. That would mean making sure that Qui-gon once again took him as a padawan and then giving him some pointed advice on Obi-wan maintenance. He could already guess how these early rejections had eventually evolved into Obi-wan’s appalling lack of self-worth usually shown in his lack of self-care. He knows that somehow Jinn became Obi-wan’s Master, but his confidence in the man is more than just shaken and will not leave it to chance a second time. He has to go after Obi-wan.

Apparently both have been sent on to Bandomeer together, which so far has been the usual eventful mission when it involves Obi-wan: pirates attacking the transport, emergency landing/crash of said transport, dealings with hutts and draigons. This right there is why Anakin was leery to leave the man alone. Hell, this debacle of him being sent away could be another instance of “if it can go bad, it will for Obi-wan”.

Anakin wasn’t a strategist but knowing how to prioritize certain things for survival was something he had learned early in life as a slave which had helped him prepare for being a field active Jedi Knight. So next on his list was acquiring a ship and perhaps a droid at some point. No resources meant stealing a ship which didn’t bother him, but deciding to do it here in the heart of the galaxy or waiting until the outer rim was the big question because of availability of ships versus security. He decided to risk it here even though he knew he could impersonate a Jedi and get transported. Knowing that Qui-gon had had a legitimate mission on the planet little Obi-wan was undoubtedly and very likely inadvertently doing his best to get into trouble on, there was a chance a 2nd Jedi’s presence could spook someone and make things worse.

Little less than a day later found Vader just entering hyperspace on his first jump taking him to Bandomeer. He had successfully left Coruscant's airspace without alerting anyone to the theft and was in the process of scrubbing the ship’s identity clean enough to eventually trade it off, but that would have to wait until after Bandomeer. 

The planet wasn’t one that Vader personally knew much about beyond two items: it was along a prominent hyperspace route and that its main function was mining. With that in mind, he thought the agri-corps were probably staging a losing battle what with the mining methods that had been still being in operation at the time of the empire. Even more questionable was bringing what would have been considered a new recruit on at such a dubious location. Mining planets tended to be rough places with the government often corrupt as to rape a planet's natural resources to the point of near inhabitability.

It was a short stop out of hyperspace for needed supplies and fuel. No alerts had been issued as yet on him or his stolen ship so far. Vader decided to chance setting a more direct course for Bandomeer and utilizing the autopilot for the majority of the remainder of the trip. This would give him the opportunity to sleep and work on the ship while he waited. Mechanics was always relaxing and just in case he wanted the ship to perform reliably if he needed to escape a pursuer.

The ship wasn’t the worst clunker he had ever flown but there were systems that could certainly use his tinkering. No reason to not work on it with nothing else to do. The ship had just been unloaded and was waiting for its next haul when he absconded with it. Too bad, he could have offloaded whatever was there, but he would make due. There was a decent size cargo hold and small crew living area for four to make use of and investigate further if bored.

Trips like these by himself had always taxed his patience and even a droid would have made it more tolerable, but with the number of secret solo missions the emperor for him, he had learned to make due. If nothing else the hold was big enough for katas which hadn’t always been the case previously. The first trips were so draining with the enforced inactivity that he had finally come close to mastering meditation when he so chose to attempt it out of desperation.

Obi-wan had used to tell him that areas of Jedi training he struggled with would be mastered with experience and due time and perhaps he had been right. Sidious’s teaching was as dreary as it was scant in most cases and didn’t hold a candle to Obi-wan’s, so he was reluctant to attribute the success to that. The likelihood the war had disrupted his training which in turn with the need of generals had meant he had been knighted too early. That was a galling admittance for his pride, especially as before the Republic’s fall he had been pushing to be made a master in the Order. 

The years in the Clone Wars and the Empire had tempered him as a blade forged in fire. He was ready to follow the will of the Force in this time as he would never have been able to his previous life with all his fears holding him back, but now he had a new path to follow. Frustratingly the Force’s guidance was all but absent still except for one thing: Go to Bandomeer and find young Obi-wan it had agreed with him. As a new path and beginning was starting for him, maybe he could give one to Obi-wan too, and a more fitting gift he could not think to give the man who had called him brother. He would not fail in this task as the Force was with him. Dark or light, the Force had spoken and he was determined that this time its will would be done.


	5. Part A5

Chapter 5

Landing on Bandomeer, Anakin knew it was the right choice. The Force had that itchy tingly feeling that usually precipitated Obi-wan’s infamous, “bad feeling about this.” Good, that meant it was right before everything was about to go to poodoo but he still had time. He hoped it would be as easy as finding the two Jedi together, help them finish whatever was agitating the Force, and impart some wisdom. This plan left him at loose ends afterwards but he trusted the Force to provide further guidance. Reaching out into the Force proved this plan to be altogether too optimistic of course.

Even if he wasn’t as intimately familiar with Obi-wan’s signature, he couldn’t believe another force-sensitive would not be able to see him. He shown as a beacon of light, even more brilliant than Anakin remembered it being. Though he carried the moniker of Chosen One, it was Obi-wan that he thought of as a true Child of the Force. Of all the deaths and cries in the Force he had experienced as he destroyed the Jedi, none were as acute as the Force’s scream at Obi-wan’s murder. Padme’s and his unborn child’s death hadn’t even brought as an extreme a response.

So while his little beacon of light was in one place on the planet, worryingly a signature he could only assume was Qui-gon Jinn’s was nowhere near it. Being split up could happen on missions, but no master would voluntarily allow his padawan this far away. Even more distressing was the dark side presence he could feel. There was plenty of darkness and suffering on this planet, but this was one individual. Vader’s signature if he wasn’t shielding it could have easily swamp it. It didn’t have enough power to be a sith, but it was enough that the person wasn’t completely untrained. A dark acolyte? A fallen Jedi? Whoever it was, the bad feeling was no doubt tied to them.

Right now Jinn and the dark one were in close proximity, perhaps even about to engage. He could go help but decided not to as he knew Qui-gon had survived the first time if events were still following the original timeline and almost more importantly he needed to avoid arousing suspicions of his own dark side powers to the Jedi. There was no disagreement or warning from the Force of acting on his own instincts which were to get Obi-wan to his side. In his experience there was no safer place, as even in trouble, as long as they were together, they could overcome it.

Once again wearing his robes and hood, he left the spaceport and traveled through Bandor following the light in the Force. It led him to the harbor and hinted that the end was somewhere across the water. A Meerian was working on a small sea craft at the nearly deserted harbor due to the late hour. He hardly had to bring any of his imposing Vader persona forward to secure his assistance in crossing the sea. As they skimmed over the water in the dead of the night, explanations of their destination started making Vader’s blood boil.

The likely destination was a sea mining platform owned by a corporation called Offworld. There was many rumors and gossip surrounding the company including the knowledge that Hutts worked for it. That fact lent credence to the rumor that despite the “contracts” the miners supposedly had, it used slave labor. Hatred of Hutts and slavery was an old anger which helped push it down into a cold, dead feeling that he tried to hold onto despite knowing Obi-wan was on the platform somewhere. Impressing on the Meerian the importance of him waiting for Vader to return he left the hydro craft secured at the base and force jumped his way into the facility.

Even knowing what to expect it was still infuriating. Quietly and methodically he used the force to kill the guards. Vader noted all the slaves had slave collars which were much less discrete than the sub dermal explosive chip that he had at one time been implanted with. As he came across them small tendrils of Force reached out to each collar and deactivated them. A Phindian apparently braver or stupider than the rest of the pitiful souls here approached him, “Ah you be that Jedi Obawan talked of to come get him. I’ll show you where he at.” Nodding to indicate agreement he followed the being deeper within the structure. He continued to deactivate collars and showed no mercy to the slaver guards.

A final hallway that had locked rooms was where the Phindian and the Force both lead him. Walking up to correct room on his own, he waved his guide away. This was a private moment not meant for spectators. The door’s lock wasn’t complicated and he was almost surprised that Obi-wan hadn’t managed to get it open on his own, but the pain that was being pushed into the Force from behind the door could easily be the culprit. Taking a deep breath he opened the door and caught his first glimpse of the child his master now was: dirty from labor and violence, injured and hungry and in spite of it all still hopeful.

 

* * *

 

 

Obi-wan awoke hurting once again. His previous injuries still hadn’t fully healed and the guards hadn’t been gentle when they had apprehended him in his escape attempt. He was thankful to be in lockup as they had decided to wait to throw him overboard in the morning. He was determined to face his death with serenity as befitting the Jedi he knew himself to be no matter that he was no longer an initiate.

While centering himself in the Force with meditation as Master Yoda had taught him he remained hopeful. He was aware there was the essence of something between Master Jinn and himself and he wanted to have faith in the man coming for him despite the words of doubt Xanatos had spoken. He had had trouble grasping the Force enough to affect physical objects as he was weakened in body but as dawn slowly approached, it grasped him instead and gave him a warm feeling of reassurance.

As he brought himself back to awareness of his physical surroundings he could tell his faith had been rewarded as he heard the door to the cell unlock. His first glimpse of his savior had him mistake him for Master Jinn. The black cloak was erroneously identified as brown in the poor light. The figure had frozen in the door before slowly approaching and dropping to his knees in front of Obi-wan prior to the realization the height and gait was not quite right.

The unknown man raised a trembling hand to touch his cheek and as it got closer so too did the Force seem to thickly gather in the room like dense fog. The heaviness made it feel hard to breath and Obi-wan seemed to not be the only one who looked to be almost gasping for air. Right before the hand could touch him he finally caught sight through the hood his liberator’s face. He saw a young man in his mid to late 20s with a battle scar over his almost glowing green eyes. There was both an element of world weary and relieved happiness to him which was an odd combination. Whoever he was maybe he hadn’t believed Obi-wan would still be alive?

Whatever the cause, the moment his rescuer’s hand made contact both closed their eyes and found themselves leaning forward until foreheads could rest together. It was sublime in its simplicity. A connection sprang up between them similar yet different from what he shared with Master Jinn. He visualized it like strings on a guitar. The bond between the elder man and him had never been fully recognized between the two so it was like the high tinny string. This new bond sounded a lower and thicker note in his chest even if he had never met this person before.

As the note played it dispelled the Force outwards allowing them to both exhale. “Obi-wan.”

He had never heard his name said with an element of reverence. Not understanding how he knew except a whisper in the Force heard himself reply, “Anakin.”

“Yes, just for you. All the rest can know me as Vader, but for you alone I’m Anakin.”

Both sat back and looked the other over. The hand still cradling his check trailed down his neck to linger over the slave collar. Dark emotions seeped in, a mix of anger, sadness and regret.

“I’m sorry that you had to experience this at all, I came as soon as I could to rescue you.”

“You did. You arrived in time. We need to free the others too.”

The man touched the collar and using the Force not only deactivated it, but opened it. He pocketed it and then swept Obi-wan into his arms before striding out of the cell.

“I’ve already turned the others off. They should be safe enough for the time being at least.”

Then not bothering with conventionally making their way out and instead making use of the first opening to the outside which happened to be a window. Generous use of the Force landed them safely at the base of the mining rig all the while carrying Obi-wan. An awaiting craft was there to take them back to the mainland.

As the sea craft began to skim over the waves Anakin pulled Obi-wan down into his lap and cradled him up against his chest and arranged his cloak over them both to make a warm cocoon. Obi-wan relaxed into the hold with a heartbeat below his hand that calmed his own. A voice whispered into his ear, “Tell me.” Hiding his face into the neck of his rescuer, his soft words just for the ear above his mouth and letting a few tears slip that no one else would ever know about he felt the safest he had since leaving the crèche and becoming an initiate and having to bear the burden of trying to prove to all the other Jedi that he was worthy of becoming what the Force had told him was his destiny: To be a Jedi.


	6. Part A6

Chapter 6

Qui-gon pushed the craft he had obtained from Ron Tha to full speed. He worried about the state he would find Obi-wan in. Not knowing how else to find the boy, he had pushed a confrontation onto his fallen former apprentice. Xanatos had confirmed that he had been behind the disappearance and had gone so far as to engage Qui-gon in a duel with Kenobi’s lightsaber. Managing to recover it, he had fled the fight, putting aside his feelings about Xanatos for the good of finding the stolen child.

Returning to the Enrichment center to interview Obi-wan’s Arconan friend Si Treemba didn’t do more than confirm the presence of Offworld Corp guards but Ron Tha after being encouraged was more informative. He had witnessed the abductors led by a dark cloaked individual go to the sea port. Concluding that Kenobi had been taken to the sea mining rig, he implored Ron Tha for the use of one of the Agri-Corps sea crafts and was just now making out the platform in the early morning haze above the water.

The voyage had not been long, but he had still had enough time to stew on his thoughts of regret on how he had treated the boy who had accompanied him to Bandomeer. He had been mired in the past even before Xanatos showed up in the flesh. He was resolved to do better and look to the future as Yoda had promoted and there was every indication from the Force that the future’s name was Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Just as he had firmed his resolve on a plan of action, he felt something in the Force. If the Force was a body of still water, someone had just thrown a stone into it. As a Master of the Living Force, he was even more rooted in the present moment than most of his colleagues but whatever this event was the initial impact in the present was strong enough that even he knew this would have repercussions on the future.

Something fluttered along the partial bond he shared with the boy and knowledge that the event centered on him. Fear that it was Kenobi’s death took hold of his heart before he centered himself on the awareness that the bond’s existence negated that assumption, but didn’t relieve him entirely. He made himself concentrate on the here and now and his rescue mission.

Antsy a few minutes later to do something, he pulled out a pair of electro binoculars to try to get a view of his destination when something else caught his attention. There was another vessel in the water heading towards him and back to the mainland. He could see that a Meerian was piloting a figure in a black cloak. A gesture towards Qui-gon was given and the heading was changed so they would intersect. He stopped to await Xanatos’s arrival.

When the craft pulled up, he realized the man he had presumed to be Xanatos was not him. Not only that, but bundled up beneath the man’s cloak was young Kenobi.

“Took you long enough Master Jinn” was growled at him by the dark figure and dark didn’t just describe his clothes. He had just felt Xanatos use the dark side so even though this was nowhere near as strong, he could just barely detect a lingering darkness about the man much like his friend Mace Windu had around him. The words hit his brain about the time he realized the boy he had come to rescue was in no obvious distress or hurry to leave the other’s side.

The second vehicle was waved off while Jinn’s new passengers resettled themselves still pressed together under the elder’s black cloak. He couldn’t leave without at least confirming Obi-wan’s status himself.

“Child, are you all right?”

“Little thanks to you,” was snarled at him and perhaps more would have accompanied that but a small hand reached through the hood to the face and quelled the anger that was trying to reach the surface.

“I am fine. Thank you for the concern Master Jinn. I was fortunate to be rescued before the situation could become dire so rest assured you have nothing to worry about.”

A grumble from the one doing the holding met this assertation and a look must have been shared between the two as a hint of pink crept onto the face of the younger. “I can tell you are still hurting. I’ve never had much skill at healing anyone else but better than letting you sit and suffer oh so stoically like you plan to.”

Still wary but willing to give the benefit of doubt for now, Qui-gon changed course back to the landing. This would not be the first Jedi Sentinel that Jinn had met that seemed to walk a darker path than was usually accepted for the majority of Jedi.

“I see that Yoda decided to not trust me on this mission, as disappointing as that is, it is also not completely unearned. I’m glad for the assistance you have rendered in retrieving young Kenobi.”

“When I learned what was going on, it was all I could do to get here. There was all sorts of things about the whole thing I found concerning. I’m pretty sure that if the parents who give up their children to the Jedi were aware that the Order was so poor at care giving none would allow it anymore.

“Has anyone realized that sending a young force sensitive alone out to the outer rim is just asking for them to be abducted? Do you have any idea how much in the slave trade he would have been worth if those pirates had taken off with him?”

Caught off guard it took a long second before he could reply, “You are correct; this is a matter that should be addressed by the Council.”

“Yeah, well, you get on that for me and while you’re at it let’s talk about sending prime future knights away in the first place because let’s face it, Obi-wan shouldn’t have been sent away for any reason.”

The small figure must have said something to that which Jinn couldn’t hear but “Oh go on and be humble like that, not going to stop me from knowing the truth that one of the greatest Jedi the Order will ever see is sitting on me.” A fond smile graced the still mostly unseen face, but lightened the mood of everyone present.

“I will pass these thoughts on for you if you wish, Knight…?”

“Vader. You can call me Vader. So is your mission completed then or what?”

“You were not briefed?”

“I’m aware you had a mission but mine was seeing to his safety,” with a nod towards Obi-wan. “I’m willing to stretch my mandate if you like.”

Explaining about his past with Xanatos was hard, but necessary. Vader seemed unimpressed and if anything, whatever positive reputation he had with the man seemed to evaporate. Obi-wan was much more sympathetic but even he seemed to look at Qui-gon as though he shined a little less brightly.

Concentrating on piloting for the moment but still keeping an ear on his passengers he was able to discretely monitor their interactions. Kenobi was still too quiet to hear, but Vader’s side gave much of it away anyway.

“Oi, when was the last time you ate anyway? I think my cloak soaking wet weighs more than you do. I’ve got something on me, no complaining about taste, it’s better than nothing. No bugs on me I’m afraid…No knocking it until you’ve tried 'em. Now small sips of water. I know I know, the longer you didn’t eat, now the less appetite you have but you can handle that much and we can ease you back onto food. You keep this up and you’ll not get that last inch of height and to be honest” –laughter-- “you can’t spare any. Hey at least you’ll be taller than Yoda anyway.”—OW—“Wow, for being so little and delicate you can hit hard anyway.”

It struck him both the familiarity and fondness he could observe between the two. He had been sure that Yoda and the Force had been trying to tell him that this was his future padawan and had been almost ready to concede but now he wasn’t so sure. It could be a trick of the dawning light highlighting the others but that didn’t explain the contentment he could feel not just in the Force, but somehow in the Force itself. Could the Force event have been triggered by the meeting of these two people?

He didn’t like the darkness that he knew clung to the Sentinel, but if this was the Will of the Force, he would gracefully concede and put this down as a learning experience. That he had contemplated taking another student on and had viewed a prospective as anything but future disappointment was a big step in his healing from the past. And all hope was not lost as perhaps these two would be important together but not necessarily as a padawan-master pair. Looking beyond the experienced aura, the Knight still looked to be fairly young and might not be ready to take on a student yet. He would watch and hopefully the Force would tell him if he should speak up or not.

 


	7. Part A7

Chapter 7

Well now, this was almost a surprise; Qui-gon Jinn was apparently the worst judge of character. He had wanted to train two apprentices that everyone told him not to, that had both eventually fallen; and one apprentice he had predetermined was destined to fall with that one being the best Jedi of his generation. It was no wonder the skill level Obi-wan had displayed in both diplomacy and saber as a fresh Knight with having to clean up after his master. It was a wonder the level of regard Obi-wan had had for Jinn when he thought about it. He knew himself well enough that he would have not been so forgiving.

Perhaps that was why he was taking such pleasure in the fact Obi-wan had barely acknowledged Jinn since joining up with him. He obviously felt comforted and safe which Vader took as vindication of their connection in the Force. He hadn’t meant to start to reform their bond, but even if he hadn’t instinctually reached for Obi-wan, the Force had itself started to bind them together. Their original bond had evolved and had had multiple levels and from what he could tell, this one already was exhibiting similar characteristics. 

Most Jedi had found their connection disturbing as the majority had only ever had a training bond and few had experienced a Force created bond, let alone the combination of the two which had evolved into its own unique bond. Strangely Obi-wan was one of the few in recent Jedi history who had had multiple Force created bonds and as such, even as a Master it was regarded with suspicion of attachment instead of considered as acknowledgment from the Force of the rightness of these attachments as Anakin argued.

Qui-gon was one of these attachments but he wouldn’t be able to leave them alone however if Obi-wan didn’t seem able to stand up on his own. Otherwise Qui-gon would stampede all over him with his obstinate attitude and Vader wouldn’t allow that. As they all debarked onto the vehicle, Anakin saw how he could maybe instill that self confidence needed to challenge the older Jedi’s perceptions. 

It was petty but he was also pleased at the thought he could show his challenge to Qui-gon as the ultimate authority in care of the initiate. The man would have to live up to expectations or know that the Sith would have no qualms interfering as he saw fit. Kenobi was too important to leave to the other’s ego. If he had an ounce less of his judgmental attitude Obi-wan would have been officially apprenticed by now. He casually snagged the smaller of the 2 lightsabers off of Qui-gon’s belt before he could protest and then tilting Obi-wan’s chin up to look each other in the eye.  
“I know this wasn’t avoidable, but I got this speech from my master every time I lost my saber whether or not it was my fault, so you are getting it too.” Making sure they had made a connection before continuing with a deep breath. “Next time, try not to lose it. This weapon is your life. However I know that as Jedi you will do this weapon honor with your actions.”

He handed the saber over before giving the young one’s shoulders an affectionate squeeze. He looked over at Qui-gon allowing a hint of a smirk to show as he took in the Jedi’s expression. Even better was seeing Obi-wan regain his poise that would one day be an aura of command.

With a look that included both his elders this time he spoke clearly and confidently, “Guerra told me that the transmitters for the collars are kept here. We must free the others being kept as slaves, I gave my word.”

Perhaps it was with the thought to regain some of the regard Obi-wan had once held for him, but whatever the reason, Jinn jumped at this and strode by himself over to Offworld’s security office. Staying outside, a lightsabers activation sound was heard shortly before some cowed guards ran past.

“I destroyed the other transmitters, but saved this one in case we needed it, are you still wearing a slave collar young one?”

“No,” hesitating a moment before continuing with a glance at the two men, “Vader removed it for me.”

Patting his side, “I have it here with me so I could examine it later. I enjoy tinkering and having the transmitter would be useful.”

As he reached a hand out, the sound of a speeder bike approaching at high speeds made itself heard. They looked to see who would swiftly be upon them, blaster shots from the bike’s guns fired at the group before visual identification could be made even if they all guessed who. The first pass had all the shots miss wildly.

“Take cover, we need to get away from here,” yelled Qui-gon looking to herd Obi-wan into a nearby elderly speeder.

“Why? We would just get shot down in that clunker. Or we would if he could manage to aim and drive at the same time. Just deflect anything that manages to come close and let’s knock him off when he gets close. This can be good practice for Obi-wan at deflection.”

“He’s barely trained, you can’t expect him to deflect full powered shots,” Jinn argued.

With disdain clearly evident in Vader’s voice, “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

“And I find your arrogance disturbing,” was shot back.

Ignoring the older Jedi while turning to the younger, “I believe in you. Set your stance like you’ve been taught. The Force will guide you and I’m here, use me if you need to.”

A nod of acceptance, a deep breath to center and the stance firming up was how Obi-wan showed his trust. Anakin could feel their signatures reaching out to each other like they had in battle so many times in his past. It wasn’t the deep connection yet the two had been able to hold during the war, but it was steady. With Anakin acting as a wellspring of power backing him up and Obi-wan’s finesse and fine control already starting to shine through, it was a display that would have been expected from an experienced padawan and not an initiate.

As the shots concentrated on the youngest of the group, Jinn took the opportunity to knock their attacker off the speeder bike. He landed with a hiss as his shoulder injured by the pirates on the way to the planet reminded him that it wasn’t fully healed.

Xanatos seeing the weakness began dueling with his old master. Moving safely out of the way of the two combatants gave Vader the chance to observe the two. Even accounting for the Jedi’s injury affecting his performance, he was astounded by the lower quality fight to what he had become accustomed to during the war. He remembered Windu talking about how the reappearance of the Sith had driven many Jedi into the training salles and for the others the war had. Saber work had often meant the difference between life and death.

Seeing the Jedi starting to tire, Vader knew he needed to step in if he didn’t want to see Qui-gon stabbed with a lightsaber again. Not wanting to show his saber’s color would mean using an alternative and perhaps even more satisfying strategy. Reaching into his clothing to grab something he waited for his opportunity.

As the two duelists broke apart he hollered out a warning, “Move!” before moving up on his opponent. After dodging an initial swing as he got close, he used his mechanical hand to first club the hand holding the weapon and then grabbing that wrist and squeezing. Distracted Xanatos never even noticed him using his other hand until the uppercut knocking his head back and he felt the tight choking sensation of Obi-wan’s slave collar close tight.

“Drop your weapon and surrender. I just activated that collar and we have the transmitter. If you don’t want your head blown off, which I wouldn’t have a problem with, as a dirty slaver you deserve nothing less, but out of consideration of my comrades I’m giving you the chance to let them take you in.”

Disbelief in what was happening didn’t stop Xanatos from releasing his weapon that Qui-gon took charge of by attaching it to his belt. He used a pair of cuffs to bind the prisoner’s hands in front of him before comlinking the officials of Bandor that he had found the perpetrator and was taking him into custody.

And that was that. Mission complete. The time to leave Obi-wan in Jinn’s graces was fast approaching. Sure he still wanted to have that talk and make the man listen about not being stupid. Of course, being stupid was just par for the course with the man. He had been stupid with Xanatos in the past, he had been stupid now with Obi-wan, and perhaps he would be stupid again in the future with his younger self. His mind replayed that memory from the council room of him pushing Obi-wan away, while making lofty claims of Anakin being the embodiment of an esoteric prophecy. That stupid had hurt Obi-wan and helped make the council always regard Anakin with fear and suspicion if he was honest with himself.

Could he send Obi-wan away and let him go with the other man knowing what had happened the last time with a chance of it repeating? No he couldn’t. Why else had the Force brought him here, but to change the past and this is how he wanted to start, by training Obi-wan himself. Unlike Qui-gon, he is no longer going to turn away gifts from the Force but embrace them.


	8. Part A8

Chapter 8

Obi-wan wondered if all missions for Jedi was like what he had experienced since leaving the temple on Coruscant: pirate attack, crash landing, kidnapping into slavery, freeing slaves and a showdown with a villain. Holodramas could not compete with his reality, but at the same time knowing that he had helped people made the danger and scares worth it. To him, this is what being a Jedi was about, overcoming the risk of danger to one’s self to help others. And he got to do it alongside two other Jedi both of which he had a connection to with the Force.

The Force right now was whispering to him Teacher but which one it meant he didn’t know. Master Yoda had previously indicated that he would sanction a pairing between himself and Master Jinn. He had started this journey with the hope he would be able to change his mind. Now after Xanatos and hearing more of his history no longer did awe color his view, but he found him human instead and even more approachable now.

The other possibility was Anakin and he could not deny how the Force had twined them together. When defending against the blasts, he could feel how synced up they were so that when he caught a glance at the man, he was surprised to not seeing him echoing the moves as Obi-wan executed them with the Forces assistance. The ease of falling into the Force together was like nothing he had been told was possible. His friends who were padawans had never described their training bonds to be like this, or at least not expect them to approach anything even close to this for years yet, and somehow with the Force’s benefaction they had this connection after knowing each mere hours.

As broken as he now understood Master Jinn to be, Anakin was perhaps more so as the Force had not shied away from showing him the scars of darkness on the man’s soul that even now festered dark poison in him. It had frightened him at first and horrified him that the Force felt his destiny somehow tied together to someone so tainted. He had wanted to pull out of contact but before he could he saw this spark of light that even as he had acknowledged it and his connection with Vader, he watched it gain strength. So instead of fearing his rescuer he was confident in his security and nothing had disproven it.

Xanatos dueling with Qui-gon was an experience as he had never seen two individuals using lightsabers with a real intent to harm each other possibly. It was very different from the mostly friendly spars he had watched at the temple. He knew it was misplaced but he had guilt when he realized the wound from the pirates was affecting the Jedi. He was desperately trying to think of a way to help when Vader stepped in. That was even more extraordinary as he didn’t even draw a weapon against the fallen Jedi and still overpowered him. Jinn was looking wary at the knight as he had obviously seen how dangerous the man could be but Obi-wan had nothing but regard for both his skill and restraint shown.

The three of them were not the best team but they had helped protect Bandomeer. Qui-gon was already explaining to the authorities about Xanatos and Offworld’s transgressions. The only question now was what would happen; would they all part their separate ways or would Obi-wan go home with the two Jedi? He was trying to prepare himself for the worst because Master Jinn still had given no indication of taking him on and the other was a relatively young knight who was likely not interested in taking on the level of personal responsibility that a padawan would require.

If Obi-wan wasn’t so deep in his thoughts and steeling himself for whatever was going to happen next, he might have seen that the two individuals he had been contemplating were doing their own assessments of the situation. The not-so-innocent bystander had a front row seat to witness the spectacle as it unfolded and the real question was who would address the oblivious bantha in the room first. The win was going to go to the man in black as he cursed to himself, “Kriff it all,” before kneeling in front of the boy.

“Obi-wan Kenobi, will you do me the honor of becoming my student? I vow to teach you and guide you in the Force until your trials to become a Jedi Knight. I have seen that you have the potential to be a great Jedi and I know that the Force has brought us together for a reason. It will be a long, hard road, but I would like to accompany you on your journey.”

As the man waited for an answer, Obi-wan could feel a jumbled mixture of feelings swamping the area including: disbelief, disappointment, fear, and jealousy. The feeling that caught his attention though was his own tentative hope that was also reflected in the man before him. As they once again started to fall into harmony with each other, the moment was shattered by a warning in the Force.

Xanatos taking advantage of Qui-gon’s preoccupation with the drama taking place first slammed him in the gut and then bashed him in the face with his cuffed hands. As Jinn fell back, momentarily stunned by a once again broken nose seen by the blood covering his face, du Crion grabbed his lightsaber back and ignited it. 

Obi-wan looked up to see he was the target of a swing meant to cut him down when a “NO!” preceded a Force push out of the way before Vader ignited his own weapon and blocked the blow. The fight between the two was once again anti-climatically short as a parry and the riposte that followed ended it with a lightsaber through Xanatos’s torso. It had happened so fast and the whole attack was such a shock that it took Obi-wan a few seconds to realize what was wrong with the tableau in front of him, Anakin’s lightsaber was red. 

No one seemed to want to move and break the stillness beyond what was needed for the somehow still hooded man to look over to see if the boy he had fought to protect was alright. Even with the light of morning around them, the hood cast enough shadow for Obi-wan to see his eyes were no longer that unusual green from before but had become an even more unnatural looking yellow. 

A shocked laugh from the pierced man pulled attention back on himself. Vader withdrew the saber but left it ignited and held the wounded man up with a fist clutching his clothes.

“I thought the best revenge against my old master would be killing the boy he wanted to train even if he had been accepted by another Jedi so he could always doubt not acting first, but this is even better,” as a series of coughs interrupted him but gained enough breath back to continue his taunts, “and I still get the pleasure of knowing that Qui-gon Jinn also failed in his mission to save Bandomeer.”

“Talk” was all that was growled out by the man in black holding him.

When painful coughing laughter was the only answer, the Darkside of the Force answered its lord’s call. Everyone in the vicinity could feel its chilling oppressive weight in the air before it dropped down on du Crion. Master Jinn maneuvered around to stand between Obi-wan and the two combatants with his own saber lit but it didn’t stop Obi-wan’s view of Xanatos’s face as he looked to suffer a seizure as his eyes rolled back in his head so the whites were showing and blood started to drip ominously from ears, nose and eyes before death took him. The Darkside user then turned to the remaining Jedi after dropping the limp body away from himself. 

“I know I wasn’t exactly gentle, but he was a dead man already with that wound and he wouldn’t have told us anything. I had to be sure if he was lying or not.”

“Sith,” Qui-gon hissed. “You too thought the boy would fall and that’s why you wanted to take him on as a student. Well I won’t allow it.”

“No! You don’t listen and you don’t look do you? He shines with such light from the Force that suggesting him to be dark is stupid and if you can’t see it, maybe you need to look to yourself. I wasn’t going to interfere this way but you Jedi are the ones trying to throw him away so I can’t trust you to do right by him. I might not be Jedi myself, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help him become one.”

“If you are so desperate to see him trained as a Jedi, I promise to ask to become his teacher if you will just leave him be.”

“Really, and leave him to your gentle tutelage of constant suspicion and distrust as his teacher while the council will have him under endless scrutiny for any perceived failures? I will tell you right now that type of experience will not give you the type of Jedi you want. Oh he’s strong enough he might not fall because of it, but it would leave him a shell of the man he could become.

“Obi-wan, I promise you I have no intention of leading you into the dark. I only want to prepare you for the other Sith. The rest of the Jedi are complacent in their own knowledge and power and will be blind to the Sith, but with you I know there is a chance to stop them. You could take Jinn up on his offer but you know he will be forever poisoned against you or you could stay here and accept the Jedi’s decision that you are not good enough to be anything more. Either case you will have to watch the galaxy burn when the Sith complete their revenge by purging the Jedi from existence. Or, you can come with me and together we will help save the Jedi whether they truly deserve it or not. Trust me.”

Looking between the Jedi and the Sith first to read them as they are and then in the Force Obi-wan realizes that he was only partially right about what the Force had been trying to tell him before. Yes, either of these two men could be his destined teacher, but perhaps more importantly he is meant to be a teacher in return. It shocked him that a self-proclaimed Sith Lord had that ball of hopeful light still inside him. In this moment it was as if Anakin had handed it to Obi-wan and he could either crush it in his fists or cup it close and protect it.

“I will go with you as my teacher,” to the Sith Lord. Turning to the Jedi, “I thank you for your kindness Master Jinn and I hope you find a student who can earn your trust. Please tell Master Yoda that no matter whether I am in the Order or not, I will always be Jedi,” and with that he walked to Anakin’s side. As he walked, he almost stumbled from the magnitude of the backlash in the Force from a shift. His decision had changed the future from what it had been before and it remained to be seen if the change would be for good or ill but the only to go now was forward.

“I can’t let you leave and certainly not with the boy,” as Qui-gon moved to stop Obi-wan but was stopped by a red blade confronting him.

“How? You couldn’t beat him,” indicating the body on the ground. “You wouldn’t be able to stop me because even if I don’t want to, if I had to I would kill you. Go on instead and live. You can warn the other Jedi of the Sith that are coming, but be careful about how wide the news is spread. I’m really horrible at being subtle as you’ve seen but the others out there, they are not. Most Jedi could shake their hands and have no idea with what they just came into contact with. In fact I’m pretty sure that there are some Jedi that are completely unknowing of who they are betraying the Order to, or that they are being manipulated and oblivious to their own betrayal. 

“Even more importantly, please don’t make me and Obi-wan too widely known either as it will only paint us as targets for the other sith. I have killed my own master as the Way of the Sith goes, but I’m not aligned with those. We would be seen as threats or need to be brought under their control. I have every intention that Obi-wan and I will rejoin the Jedi in the fight against those Sith but the advantage of surprise would be invaluable against them.

“Besides, you don’t have time to stop us now. Du Crion wasn’t lying about you needing to save Bandomeer yet. I ripped from his mind that he has set conditions for explosions to take place in the mines. Start looking at Core 5 and evacuate the miners just in case. I will even let you get first pick between that old clunker speeder and the bike and take the other as time is short even now.”

Obi-wan could see the indecision now weighing on the Jedi master. “Go save Clat’Ha and the others. Let Si Treemba know I valued his friendship. May the Force be with you Master,” and gave the man a bow.

“I will find you and save you Obi-wan Kenobi from this Sith. May the Force be with you,” the Jedi promised before he ran off to the old speeder.

Vader climbed onto the speeder bike and held out a hand to Obi-wan to help him climb on. Accepting that hand was the first step to a destination he couldn’t see as darkness covered the way, but he would be the torch lighting the way.


	9. Part B1

Mace Windu arrived at the quarters of the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order. The message he had received had asked for a private meeting, not uncommon but what the subject would entail was usually known, this time the Master hadn’t given him a hint to what this meeting pertained to. Uncharacteristically he was met with a Force opened door when he chimed.

Sitting on one of the cushions the ancient Jedi favored that were scattered around a low table was the master looking pensively at his tea. Mace found the cushion he preferred and helped himself to the tea setting on the table next to a holoprojector. He made it through his first cup of tea while Yoda still sat thinking to himself. Deciding to pour a second cup before starting the conversation, he almost dropped the teapot when the silence was unexpectedly broken, “Message received I have.”

“From whom?”

“Young Kenobi,” the old troll confessed after a brief hesitation.

Windu realized he was gaping, caught so flat-footed at the revelation perhaps he could be excused. “What does he say?”

Yoda merely waved the question aside and used the Force to begin the recording on the projector. The figure of Obi-wan Kenobi appeared. The boy didn’t look much different from the last time the Master of the Order had seen the boy. He was no longer was wearing Jedi style robes and had let his hair grow out some so it was shaggy looking, but otherwise no discernible difference. It was a reasonable guess that the recording had been made shortly after his disappearance.

“Greetings Master Yoda, I hope this message finds you well. I am sending you this message as there has been some concern about what has been relayed to the Order about my departure from Bandomeer. Please assure Master Jinn and your own mind that I left voluntarily and under no coercion. Please, if you could dismiss any inquiries into the location of my companion and myself, we would be most appreciative. We are aware that Master Jinn is attempting to locate us at this time and seems unwilling to listen and stubbornly continues his attempts to pursue us.”

“Save you my ass,” an unseen speaker interrupted the boy. The only response given was a narrowing of the eyes and Kenobi visibly biting his tongue at the speaker.

“At this time communication is of course an unreasonable expectation but we hope that won’t always be the case. I know my friend Bant Eerin was intending on continuing to message me when I was to be with the Service Corps. Please apologize to her that it may be some time before I can get a personal message to her of my well being. May the Force be with you, Master.”

“When did you receive this?”

“Recording time stamped two months after Bandomeer,” the old Jedi’s cagey answer was noted.  
Bandomeer, what a mess that had been to cleanup for the last year. He knew Yoda had been in contact with his old friend Qui-gon during the mission, but it was to Mace himself he had reached out to when everything had gone wrong. Jinn had been nearing onto hysteric when he had answered the call. What had made it through had not made much sense; worried he had personally gone to assist.

When he arrived the planet was abuzz and Master Jinn was lauded as either a hero or villain depending on the group. He managed to get an explanation of sorts from the Jedi before the man deserted him to an investigation as he took off on a personal crusade. The Jedi actions were mostly exonerated eventually, though the death of Xanatos du Crion was attributed to Master Jinn.

Examination of the body and signatures had shown there had been a second dark side user. In fact, the stink of the dark side was so strong it had muted du Crion’s to near nonexistence. That frightened Mace because Qui-gon had identified this individual as Sith and not another type of Darksider. The sheer power that had left tell-tale traces made the claim believable.

The whole thing was disturbing because everyone knew the Sith had been extinct for centuries. Now for a supposed one to show up impersonating a Jedi and reveal himself while kidnapping a former potential had led to more discord in the Council than had been common for several years. They managed to eventually recall Jinn back to the Temple for a more thorough debriefing only after he lost the trail. He maintained the man had been a Sith despite the general disbelief of most on the High Council.

Mace had hoped his friend would be able to move on after the fall of his last padawan and had worried about whether the confrontation between the two would heal or hurt the heart of the man when he had seen the early mission reports of du Crion’s involvement. Surprisingly the incident had ended his obsession with Xanatos; unfortunately it had only transferred to a new target of Obi-wan Kenobi. The man had a new cycle of regret and preoccupation with a boy where he bounced between thoughts that the boy could have been the perfect padawan and that he was always destined to go dark.

Mace himself had never been sure what to make of the initiate. Yoda’s interest was apparent from early on when he had first been brought to the crèche, but never explained. He knew that the old Jedi had given the boy personal attention due to his strong connection to the Unifying Force and subsequent visions but would not be the first to gain such. What had been unique was how hard the Grandmaster had campaigned against the boy getting a master. With that thought in mind, now was the time to get some answers from the old troll.

“So was the boy always destined for the dark, is that why you hindered him from being trained any further? After all, Qui-gon even hinted that Xanatos himself made a similar offer of apprenticeship to the boy.”

“Ploy that was to rile his old master; beginnings of a Force bond between Qui-gon and young Kenobi the Force showed me. Obi-wan’s light was to brighten Qui-gon’s darkness and stop his downward path. Sent Obi-wan to Bandomeer so Qui-gon could find a new padawan, if it failed, planned to bring the boy back and complete his training myself.”

“You potentially wanted him for a padawan? So where does this Sith come in?”

“Great possibility young Kenobi has, saw it I did, hoped Master Jinn would, saw it the Sith did. Felt a shift in the Force after they left Coruscant, another shift when young Kenobi left Bandomeer, changed is the future, no longer Qui-gon’s padawan.”

“Apprentice to a Sith instead, at least if you really believe he is a Sith and not a Darksider making claims to the name now for validation.”

“Hard to say, on this point the Force is unclear. Clearer on this new partnership is the Force, displeased it is not.”

“Are you suggesting that this is the Will of the Force? How can the Force contradict itself if it first created a Force bond to bring Jinn and Kenobi together?”

“Shriveled and withered the bond has become. No matter the attention given now by my grandpadawan will allow it to grow.”

“What do you suggest we do with Jinn? You do know that he has spent every mission outside this temple following leads for the past year since the inquiry? He has told me he won’t stop until he brings the boy back and makes him his padawan even after all this time.”

“The time for such has past. Let go of this attachment Qui-gon must or be his downfall it will I fear. Even if returned to the temple, another teacher would Kenobi have.”

“You might have gotten the Council to sign off on his readmittance if you had brought him straight from Bandomeer and took him on as your padawan, but now? If the boy hasn’t already fallen, the likelihood of being tainted by the Darkside is too high; I don’t believe the Council could be swayed and I’m not sure it should be. Kriff I’m surprised you even contemplated it. Better yet why are you? Even for you this would be extreme. Time to fess up before the jokes about senility earn you a trip to the healers over this.”

“Always in motion is the future, difficult to see. Always clear though is the Force that young Kenobi must be trained. Even if it must be by a Sith, such is the Will of the Force to see it so. Destined is Kenobi by the Force for some purpose.”

Finally the truth of why the old troll has been so reticent about the situation. Jedi are meant to be servants of the Force and the Order itself may affect the future of the galaxy, but the Force singling a person out and that the galaxy itself could hinge on this individual goes against most Jedi philosophy. 

In fact, it was a given that the Force worked in subtle and mysterious ways as Jedi saw it; blatant heavy-handed manipulation was something else. Even if the High Council agreed that it was the Force’s Will, suspicion would abound as the few similar times in the past, the individuals were famous or infamous even outside the Order. Legend had it that The Exile and Revan were both such examples and knowing that Kenobi was an akin Force Chosen would become an inescapable stigma.

“So how come you are letting me know now about this message?”

“More messages I have received.”


	10. Part B2

Mace Windu was seriously considering his life choices that had led him to becoming not only a member of the Jedi High Council but also Master of the Order and apparently the confident of the Jedi Grandmaster for his secrets. He obviously had a flaw of pride and narcissism that had made him give up being a Guardian and active field Jedi for the supposed honor of the position which really concealed headaches that no sane being wanted to deal with.

“You’ve been in contact this whole time,” he accused the bemused troll in front of him.

“Received messages I have, contact no,” the old Jedi refuted. “Wanted your opinion before I did.”

“Force save us all,” Mace was pretty sure he managed to keep a whimper out of that prayer. “Are you trying to entice Kenobi back to the Lightside or some other ill-conceived notion?”

“Believe Obi-wan has not left the light do I. A lodestone of light for darkness is he. Told you the Force showed lighting Qui-gon’s darkness, but now the Force has found another more needing it. To be sure, must see with my own eyes. First though this you must see with your own eyes,” as he activated the projector once more.

“Greetings Master Yoda, I hope this message finds you well. Unfortunately opportunities to send messages safely have been in short supply but we all do as we must. Please pass on to concerned parties including Master Jinn that I am in good health. Oh, and Vader said he had a message he wanted passed along.”

This time there were two figures in the image, one was obviously Kenobi but details on the second were difficult to make out due to him wearing a hooded cloak. Both were sitting looking relaxed wherever the recording had been done. The hooded man whispered something and handed a note to the boy. After looking at the note a whispered argument quickly took place before Kenobi turned back to face the recorder.

“Vader as a matter of principle,” –Sigh—“cannot make himself talk but would like this message passed on, ‘Thanks Master Dooku for being an idiot, sincerely Vader.’ Next,”

“You said it wrong. It said, ‘stupid idiot,’ is what it said.”

“Most consider by definition an idiot to be stupid so I thought you were being redundant again.”

“Oh no, even for an idiot he would rank as especially stupid, so I meant it that way.”

“Stupid idiot, there, moving on. In recollecting the incident that precipitated such a message and having been party to other incidents where someone acted first without understanding the situation has made me a proponent of when possible making sure the circumstances are understood before jumping in.”

“Oh yeah, who jumped in to one the other week by literally jumping on that Gran in that cantina?”

“That was a calculated risk that I made after numerous considerations of different actions and felt it was the best option.”

“Uh huh, speaking of calculated risks, if you are wanting to get that stuff from the market you should probably go now. Wear your hood at all times, practice a language besides basic, remember to haggle and be careful. Come back if you sense danger, I don’t care if it leads it back here cuz I’ll show whatever it is what real danger looks like.”

“You worry too much, I will be fine.”

“I swear to the Force we are going to figure out how to do Force Illusions so you can spend the rest of your life making everyone think you are a Jawa. What? Have you ever seen someone try to abduct a Jawa? Me either but I have seen Force-sensitive human by the name of Obi-wan Kenobi almost get kidnapped…again. In fact use that for your language tonight, and here I bet you thought it was just in case you needed to do trades with the little buggers that I was teaching you. I’m setting an alarm and you better be back before it goes off or comlink me. Now get going.”

Kenobi stands with a sigh and bows to Vader and his watchers, “The Force be with you and with you Master Yoda.”

Once the boy was supposedly out the door, Vader sits forward to apparently speak into the recorder directly instead of ending the message.

“I swear trouble gravitates around him like a moon does a planet. 

“His training goes well Master Yoda even if it’s not being done at the temple. In fact for all the interruptions and distractions, his progress is really rather amazing. Being out here really gives him a chance to work on languages and cultures. On top of that he must have an ear for it because he has fooled even natives with his accents at times.

“He is really gifted with a saber and picks up the forms quickly. He is better mechanically than he would lead you to believe, however as a pilot he bounces between overly cautious and reckless. Somehow the worst combination, maybe I should let him crash a few times so he can see it’s not so bad, especially if you can learn how to controllably crash. Now that’s a useful skill.

“Force skills are coming along including meditation definitely not my favorite, but joint at least makes it less tedious. We could use some quiet time to ourselves to really work on things though instead of bouncing around planet to planet but I haven’t felt safe enough to settle that long and I think we both could use the time.

“Galidraaan was supposed to be longer, but Dooku really messed that one up for us. You should be thanking us for that one actually. It could have been so much worse. I eventually want Obi-wan accepted back into the Order but the Order itself needs to do better. We will keep in touch, Master Yoda.”

The recording ended there. Another started almost immediately and the subtle changes in Kenobi helped show the progression of time.

“Greetings Master Yoda, I hope this message finds you well. In honor of both my life day and it being a year since I began training with Vader I thought to send you a message.

“Vader and I have come into our partnership. I call it such as even though he is teaching me, he has encouraged me to take more direction than I believe is typical of master-padawan pairs. We don’t always agree but our differences are explored and he defers frequently if I can convince him otherwise or am more suited to take the lead. It was stressful in the beginning but I seem to have a knack for persuasion and it no longer intimidates me to have to defend my position. It makes for an interesting dichotomy as you would suppose the differences would be a wider chasm to cross.

“A matter of concern I do bring to you is the matter of Qui-gon Jinn. We recently had an altercation with him again. I believe he is using a latent Force bond in attempts to track us down. This last time I confronted him alone in the hopes of explaining how unnecessary his attempts to rescue me are. Instead of my convincing him, he drugged me and attempted to abduct me. I can only thank the amount of sway I hold on Vader as when he acquired me back, Master Jinn was mostly uninjured. Others who have attempted similar have not always been given mercy.

“As a person who has become intimate in witnessing the push from the dark side of the Force, I am begging you to intercede on Master Jinn’s behalf. His balance is disrupted and I no longer believe I can help him as he does not hear me but only the absolutes of his beliefs. Even if he cannot see it, I have a unique vantage of the fine line he treads. Please Master Yoda, help him.”

The serious and contemplative mien Kenobi had while talking on this subject fell away and a small fond smile appeared as he looked towards where the door was located.

“Ah Vader is arriving and seems pleased with himself. He must have found what he was looking for as he declared he was going out to get a present in honor of our first year together.”

“Back and guess what I got for us,” could be heard from beyond view before an astromech with some sort of tool extended towards Kenobi in a threatening manner came into sight.  
“Aack hey no buddy, this is the one I was telling you about. He’s the one who protecting him will get you all sorts of excitement just like I promised. Obi-wan meet M5-G6, our new traveling companion and your additional bodyguard. Once I finish modding him with upgrades he will be able to zap the hell out of anyone dangerous to you while doing his own brand of mischief. It will be amazing.”

“Did you steal him? I thought you said that model was mostly used for government service.”

“No, I did not steal him. Yes he was in the service of the local government, but that is why he is so bored. I simply told him about you and guaranteed him that he would no longer be bored if he traveled with us and he came on his own. I’m insulted that you think I stooped to stealing a droid, that’s like kidnapping someone.”

“An— if you think that just because you convinced M5-G6 to join us that you won’t be considered a thief, you are delusional. Can’t you give him back before anyone notices?”

“No! Besides G6 still wants to come with us. But maybe just to be safe we should pack up and leave. Just in case the message he left saying he quit they claim I forged or something.”

Kenobi had a put upon look on his face before indicating that they were being recorded.

“Oops sorry hi Master Yoda I’m guessing. Gotta cut this off as time may be short and all, but as good news this means with G6’s help we should be able to set up some secure transmissions so we can talk easier. Later Master.”

“The Force be with us all,” Obi-wan took the time between collecting items to say as farewell before ending the recording and the Jedi’s view of the boy’s slice of life.  
 


	11. Part B3

“Received one last recording I have. Different is it. From Vader alone and asking for help it is.”

One last time the holoprojector came to life and this time the now familiar cloaked blue figure of Vader appeared. He was seated and staring down at his hands before visibly taking a deep breath before speaking.

“Greetings Master Yoda, after Obi-wan started these communications I realized that as much as I want to hide from the galaxy, cutting all ties would just hurt us both in the future. I know he doesn’t believe me really, but I really do want him to get the chance to rejoin your Order and if I don’t reach out to you I know it won’t happen.

“I’m not ready to give up on teaching him, but I simply don’t have all the resources I need to not neglect some aspects without some support from you. I’m working on some creative workarounds like I am in negotiations for a tutor for Obi-wan and I have another in mind eventually, but other studies I don’t know how to help in. I myself have never been good or understood some of these subjects and it’s not like I can cheat at teaching it to him like I can with some others.”

At this point he stood and started pacing around, but the recording must have been made by a droid as it managed to always keep him in sight.

“I think I want to double check with someone or ask questions of so I can do the best job I can for Obi-wan. This is galling in one way to ask for help from you, but of everyone to ask guidance from, I don’t think I can trust anyone else. I don’t have any masters anymore and wouldn’t ask another Sith for help anyway. In fact you can trust me that if another Sith approaches I will kill them. They are dangerous and not trustworthy.”

Finally sitting down again even while fidgeting to try and not distract from his subject, “I have a Force-willed bond with Obi-wan and I have concerns about it. In my life I have had what you would consider a standard training bond and another Force-willed bond. Even in comparison this is something else. The strength of it is frightening and I don’t think he is aware of how unique it is. If nothing else, we need the help learning how to shield from each other. I don’t know where else to turn as I have no idea what I’m dealing with. The possibility of manipulating each other is there from what I’ve seen. In fact I think we have been using it to cheat in some of his training.

“Obi-wan is really gifted with a saber don’t misunderstand me or try to take that away from him, but his progress in his forms is unsettling now that I have really tried to gauge it. If it’s something I can also show him in the Force, it’s like the knowledge is left imprinted on him. He still has to practice to really get the muscle memory down, but he knows it. This is handy and he is so advanced I’d like him to work on some of the other forms because he can, but at the same time, I am scared of accidentally hurting him without him being able to offer resistance and protect himself.

“And I don’t know what asking for help means. Would you be willing to just send some holocrons out so we can learn the shielding? Would you have to chance coming in person to examine the bond and teach the shielding? Either one of these would require a lot of trust on both sides. For all I know, every message we send is just another attempt to track us down. But for Obi-wan I’m willing to take this risk if you are too.

“I will send a request for a live message at the times that will be transmitted, I hope we can both be on and decide how we want to move forward. I await your answer Master Yoda.”

Mace waited to see if there was any other bombs the Jedi master was going to drop on him before making an educated guess, “So how long until he tries to message you?”

Yoda chuckled, “On the hour.”

Checking a chrono Mace had to almost applaud the old troll on the timing. His time would be best served doing a short meditation to understand what he had watched and be prepared for the conversation ahead. He had just managed to ground himself in the Force like he would before a difficult negotiation when the alert for an incoming message sounded.

“Oh I didn’t really think you would answer Master Yoda….and Master Windu.” That flat tone speaking his name said there was a personal level of dislike, but Mace had no recollection of ‘pissing in his porridge’ as the trite saying went.

“I suppose this means you are going to tell me to surrender myself and give up Obi-wan. Well in that case, you can—“

“Peace, Master Windu here to help young one, same as Master Yoda. Help we will if we can.”

“I would be insulted about that young one comment if I didn’t know there isn’t many you don’t consider young.”

Thinking of the past messages and what little features he could see of the speaker, Mace was struck at how not wrong Yoda was. It wasn’t always accurate with some near human species, but if pressed Windu would have to guess that at most the man had just barely started his third decade and he had doubts of even that many years. If so this man was of the age of a young knight barely on his own.

The tender age at which training a Jedi began and ultimately took so many years to achieve knighthood, was it the same for the Sith? What age had someone started grooming him and what would he have had to experience if Mace looked at him as the sith equivalent of a knight? Someone like that reaching out to those of the light; Mace could now understand the compassion that Yoda was showing as a possible mentor for the darksider.

“Speak of this bond with Obi-wan you will.”

“I know you Jedi are weird about bonds as attachments, even Force-willed ones but I don’t have a lot of options and we need the help before something bad happens.”

“You said it was extraordinarily strong before and you were worried about influencing each other, does that look to be still likely?” Mace asked.

“Oh we are definitely influencing each other otherwise Jinn wouldn’t still be alive but Obi-wan doesn’t need the bond for that, just that disappointed look works most of the time and the fact he talks circles around me. My influence on him from the bond though is definitely noticeable as his skills in some areas are stupid advanced and now he is working on really making them his own.

“Strength-wise I knew the exact direction to find him the moment I landed on Bandomeer which was only in the bay. Now I don’t think I couldn’t find him anywhere on this moon. Not the worst effect and I still make Obi-wan carry his comlink and check in for good habits if nothing else. The negative is that we simply can’t shield from each other. I have taught him how to block Jinn, but that technique is ineffective here.

“There is also a second problem that I don’t believe is not at least partially caused by the first and I don’t feel qualified to help him Master Yoda, but you have helped him before he told me.”

“Returned young Obi-wan’s dreams have? Disturbed his sleep has been?”

“I knew he was prone to his ‘bad feelings about this’ moments, but not this. It started out as dreams, but it was obvious he was deep within the Force and not simple dreams or nightmares. They increased in frequency until he is now having them even while awake which leaves him vulnerable and obvious in the Force. This could definitely attract the wrong type of attention. Obi-wan already attracts enough from non-force sentients. We don’t need Force sentients after us like this. Please help.”

“Come to you I will. Where meet should we?”

“Uh I’d honestly can’t wait to leave here, because if one more person tries to pet Obi-wan I might have to go on a killing spree and that would upset him….maybe I can get away with just chopping off the offending hands until they all learn? So, unfortunately as much as I’m really starting to hate here, it might be neutral enough for both of us, though you’d have to come immediately so I don’t fall back on the hand plan. I will warn you though that you will cause a shitstorm if you betray us and try to abduct us, what with our current sacred status Obi-wan’s visions have given us.”

Mace seeing a moment to follow a thought through, “Why do you believe his visions are tied to your bond?”

“Like I said, it’s obvious that they are Force-generated, I’m just not sure why it’s showing him what it is. From what he can tell me and sometimes show me, the Force is being confusing. That may also partially be from the shifts I have felt in the Force over the last year. I know that the future is always in motion, but even for that, Obi-wan and I meeting was just not supposed to happen this soon. So now, every time we interact with the rest of the galaxy we cause changes that are rippling out.

“I believe what he is seeing is my past, the future, and either the lost future or an alternate path the future could yet take or maybe it’s all that and more. It needs to stop or at least be controlled because this is becoming too much and I don’t know the last time he has gotten real rest to the point a healer would hand me my ass over his state. He hates healers though and with our questionable status I’ve been trying my best to deal with it but honestly I’m scared that I’m going to lose him in the Force at this rate. Please come to Jehda. Help us Master Yoda, you are our only hope.”  
 


	12. Part C1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Anxiety with stress responses such as fasting, insomnia, and depression

Obi-wan was tired. Even working in the mines on Bandomeer, he had never been this exhausted, but he thought perhaps if he had stayed there long enough maybe it could have been comparable to now. This constant weight bearing done, crushing him so that he knew that even if the weight was lifted, he would bear the marks of erosion from it. He felt incredibly fragile and any indelicate touch to him would be enough to shatter him and the worst part was this was the Force’s doing. How ironic that he had spent his entire life training to seek a connection with the Force and now he was doing his best to avoid its touch at all. 

As a youngling his disturbed sleep had been noted and that had eventually brought him to the attention of Master Yoda. The Master had helped him determine the difference between Force-generated dreams and his own figments of imagination. Unlike his contemporaries, these counseling sessions continued all the way up until he had been reassigned to Bandomeer. During them Yoda had explained that the frequency of his visions was a result of higher attunement to the Unifying aspect of the Force than most Jedi had and had ended up also explaining lesser followed philosophies rarely taught about to even senior padawans such as the Cosmic Force.

So being the recipient of visions during his sleep had not been upsetting in the least unless the content itself left him disturbed. He had also had cycles where they would be more prevalent before dying down so the gradual increase was ignored. That the visions had followed him more and more frequently into meditation was actually a relief. Yoda had been attempting to teach him to be more open to the Force to encourage him to voluntarily receive visions then instead of during his sleep. So it had been a positive that he was having a success at it even if his sleep was still being interrupted.

Still although he was becoming wearier as it was both mentally and physically draining to endure, he was not overly worried yet. It wasn’t until the Force’s latest escalation after arriving at this latest destination that had brought true fear to his heart when he had the waking vision. If asked Obi-wan would describe the sensation akin to walking and unexpectedly falling off a cliff with no chance to catch yourself before the freefall began and not knowing how long the fall would be or what the bottom would hold. Perhaps that perception was based on how physically his body had stumbled and had nearly fallen if not for the arms holding him.

Coming too after being assaulted by the Force and surrounded by an awed crowd, he could only deduce that he must have caused more of a spectacle than a simple stumble would have caused. Twice more since then had he been appropriated by the Force while awake and both times had been publically witnessed. Any chance of exploring the Ancient moon of Jehda had disappeared as he had gained an embarrassing following from the visiting pilgrims. He had even had a visit from a Shaman of the Whills as an entry for the Journal of the Whills.

The lack of rest and now the edginess of trying to be prepared for the next “attack” by the Force had left a feeling of betrayal that he was trying to unsuccessfully work past. As a Jedi he knew he should be prepared to be a servant of the Force and do its bidding, but the subjugation of self-identity that was apparently being asked of him was a lot for anyone, let alone a 14 year old boy all on blind faith. This however had none of his consent so instead was straining an already unmanageable situation.

Exhaustion made his appetite chancy and the added stress killed it completely. Worse was the fact that with few exceptions even keeping what he made himself choke down came back up. Even without the scale telling him he had lost a stone from his last temple healer examination, the reflection in the mirror made it obvious enough. His face had a gaunt look and the skin below his eyes was so dark to give the appearance of black eyes. Undressing, he tried to avoid the sight of his sunken stomach with countable ribs and his collarbones were so prominent that they were noticeable even while wearing clothes. Most troubling of all was the general unsteadiness that he tried to operate around, but if nothing else the nearly constant tremble his hands had recently developed made it difficult to do even simple things.

Obi-wan was mostly sure that he wouldn’t be so exasperated with the Force if he could say that everything was the result of a message that desperately needed to be passed along that he just wasn’t understanding or the Force just had more to say. That way he could be exasperated that he was just too stupid to understand what needed to be told, but if that was the case, the Force was doing a horrible job of it. He might be giving off the impression himself, but he couldn’t help comparing the visions to the mutterings of a madman, especially with the inconsistencies between the visions.

The visions that were nothing more than disjointed images with little to even understand what the images themselves were let alone anything to bind them together fit that description perfectly and were the ones that disturbed his sleep the most. He would have thought it was his own mind racing and not allowing him to sleep if he couldn’t feel the touch of the Force as the source. His subconscious agreed with him as he had even woke up recently begging, “Shut up, just shut up and let me sleep.”

Meditation at least alternated with visions that were coherent. The relevance may be in doubt, but at least Obi-wan had a chance of understanding what he was seeing. He was pretty sure he was seeing the future or at least future possibilities, but why the Force also showed him what could have been the future was a good question. He was sure that these were futures that the opportunity for them had already passed as the Mandalore and his people had been saved from the future he had been shown of what could have been almost all their deaths at Galidraan. 

Also numerous times he had seen himself as a padawan to Qui-gon Jinn and that future was also obviously past. Those were personally upsetting as he was both wistful and relieved that was not to be his life depending on the scene. He had the impression that the good moments of that partnership would have been overshadowed by conflict and strained tension between the two of them. It had helped him reject every appeal from Master Jinn with conviction instead of being overwhelmed by the man. Strangely enough, he had the impression that the Jedi usually just overrode most objections stubbornly until the other party conceded to be done with it and Obi-wan’s intractability in this case left him on the back foot for once.

So as nostalgic for the temple as these visions would leave him, it made him happy to be where he was at and perhaps that was the point, showing him how he was making a difference in the galaxy and hopefully for the better. He had been coping, maybe not well, but he had been coping until these latest visions.

He had no doubt that unlike the other visions that these were sent from the Force with intention and a definitive message even if there was interpretation still needed. He had saw variations of both himself and Anakin always together, even if they were fighting each other. It didn’t matter if Obi-wan was the boy he was now, an old white haired man frail with age, or places between the two; whatever was his life, so then was Anakin even if his lightsaber flickered between blue or red or he was even younger than Obi-wan. At one point he had seen a tall black masked figure that could not have been Anakin except it still felt like him.

There had been a notable moment where when they had turned to face each other their hands had come almost together as they had fought each other with the Force. Neither budged and the only conceding he had seen had been the two acknowledging that they could not overcome the other that way before once again falling into rhythm with the other as the pair took on invisible enemies together as a team once more.

It could be more complicated, but one simple truth the Force wanted him to know: His destiny was tied forever no matter the other circumstances to the man who was setting a cup of fresh tea in front of him while he huddled in a blanket in the galley of their spaceship; but it was not their fates alone but the entire galaxy’s that would be decided between the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be no update Mother's day weekend.


	13. Part C2

Obi-wan hadn’t been scared as he climbed behind Vader on the speeder bike as Master Jinn took off to rescue the miners of Bandomeer. Even if the man was a Sith, the Force had assured him of his sincerity that he meant no harm. But as they got closer to the spaceport, a thought concerned him; how would they make their way in the galaxy without the temple’s help?

Jedi often dealt with brutal and terrible things, Bandomeer was a good example: the greed and corruption of the government and corporations that had destroyed so much of the planets ecology while plundering the planet of its nonrenewable natural resources and using slave labor to do the mining. So it was certainly true that Jedi were very familiar with the ugly face of the galaxy, a face that most beings didn’t even know existed or ignored.

But for all that, in some ways the Jedi were very sheltered. Jedi were simple people and had few possessions, but even still what things they did have need of were provided for them. Outside the temple, they were accorded privileges that usually were given for the rich and powerful. With simple acknowledgment of the title Jedi and the support from the Temple and the Galactic Senate, they had been allowed to work miracles on planets with greater flexibility in their actions than others trying to do similar works could do. How now would Obi-wan live without all that? 

As he pondered that question, they arrived at the spaceport and Vader led the way to a docking bay. Obi-wan might not be as ship crazed as his friend Garren but it was obvious that this was an expensive personal ship that the Sith was lowering the ramp to using a security keypad. Walking inside the difference between a ship like the Monument that had brought him to Bandomeer and this one were apparent. He followed the Sith into the cockpit as Vader settled in the pilot’s seat and Obi-wan compared it to the one he had sat in when he helped the Monument escape the pirates.

Vader turned to him expectantly, “So what do you think? Should we take this one or the one I arrived here on? Either one will have to be traded for something else soon so no use getting attached. This one here would fetch us a better price but it might not be as easy to get rid of and is more memorable. The other ship is a freighter so we should have no problems getting rid of it, it just won’t be worth as much.”

“We cannot steal a ship! How did you get past the security?”

“Easy, this was du Crion’s ship, I saw got the code when I dug through his brain, and technically the other ship is stolen too so don’t let that affect your choice.”

“You violated his mind, “Obi-wan objected softly as this sensitive topic seemed like it should be approached delicately.

Anakin sighed before running his hands through his hair, “Look I don’t normally do that ability at all because of the resulting damage I cause, but since he wasn’t going to tell us what he had done before dying, I thought it worth the risk. If I hadn’t, most of this planet would be wrecked in the explosions and countless people besides all the miners would be dead. It was a fair trade off as far as I’m concerned.

“This ship was his personal one and not Offworld’s so no one is going to miss it. We need a ship though and we should leave soon because I have a feeling that Jinn is going to try to follow us as soon as he wraps things up and I’d like to be a few systems away when does. Like I said earlier, both ships have reasons to pick one over the other.”

“If Xanatos used this ship when he did his dirtier deeds, would the log have proof Master Jinn would need to prove so?”

“Oh definitely,” a smirk accompanied the confirmation.

“Then we need to leave this craft as I’m sure Master Jinn will discover it in his investigation and we should not impede it.”

“So I suppose we should leave the accounts he embezzled money from the company to fund that I just found the records for too?”

“Yes, of course we should.”

“See and that’s why I’m making you pick from the options I come up with, I probably wouldn’t have thought of that reason to not take it.”

“Will there be many decision making tests of critical thinking in the future of a similar nature and are you really going to allow me to make a wrong choice?” Obi-wan challenged him.

“Probably, and sometimes it’s not until later that you find out it was a bad decision. I’ll even let you come up with your own option as long as you can persuade me that it’s valid. Why shouldn’t I involve you in these decisions anyway? Isn’t that what Jedi do, make hard decisions that will affect lives? And as these decisions will affect both of us, I don’t see the point in doing it all myself. Besides,” gesturing to himself, “do you really think I haven’t made some questionable if not downright wrong choices?” 

“I just don’t like that our only option is stealing.”

“Don’t worry about it too much in this instance. For ships in the outer rim its kinda part of their life cycle: Be stolen and then sold or traded for another ship that was at one time also stolen before you bought it. So you see, they become legitimate again, sorta.

“But since it sounds like if we are going to take a ship you prefer leaving this one right?” A nod answered him. “Great! Time for more stealing then!” he chirped happily. “You clean out the galley of anything that looks even remotely edible. Then if we are doing good for time get some ‘quality of life’ stuff like any spare blankets and bedding (bet the thread count will be nice and high) and all the expensive toiletries hiding in the fresher and anything else that looks like something you think we should grab.

“I’m going to grab some other necessities like emptying out any med supplies and some other goodies he had hidden on board. I’ll need to get into their hiding spots but I know there is a small cache of untraceable emergency currency and some spare lightsaber parts secreted into cubbies. It is still stuff that won’t be missed but will help us out.”

Obi-wan couldn’t help the negative look at all this stealing he was being told to do, which Vader of course noticed. Standing up from the pilot’s chair and looming over the boy with a hard serious face, “You don’t think Jedi get cut off on their own on planets that turn out to be almost entirely hostile down to almost every last being there? That they don’t have to survive by whatever means necessary sometimes, especially if they have person of interest in their care? Maybe there is a civil war or some other unrest or an invasion or even superstition, whatever it is, being a Jedi sometimes means there is no guarantee of safety and you are a target.

“I will teach you every way I know how to survive even if some of them are dirty and underhanded. Don’t be afraid to push back if you disagree about something like this stealing and convince me otherwise. However, even if we never put them into practice out of our necessity, you will learn them anyway.

“You might wish yourself back at the temple and its curriculum with how hard I will push you. If learning how to shoot a blaster because you don’t have your lightsaber means the difference between life and death, you will learn no matter how uncivilized you think it. There will probably be a whole lot of uncivilized ahead of you, so you need to put it aside at least long enough to learn what I will teach you. Right now it’s me and you against the rest of the universe and I’ll be damned before it takes you away from me.”

Obi-wan tried to downplay the instinctive flinch and visible step back such an obvious sentiment of attachment made him feel. Looking up into the eyes of the Sith before him, he realized that this was a needed understanding of who Anakin was and would always be, a man whose attachments to people and thoughts ruled his actions. Knowing this now, Obi-wan would need to find a balance between this and his own Jedi ideals if he wanted this partnership to work. As such he gave a nod of agreement and proceeded to start work on stocking their own ship with the supplies from this one and resolved to meditate on how best to continue forward with Anakin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, the last 2 weeks were very filled with life: nephew's birthday party, mother's day, hosting out-of-state relatives and attending graduation parties. It helped me realize that with memorial day weekend, more graduation parties, summer camps and classes and weekend camping trips that well I might not get as much writing done as I'd like. So long story short is that I will not be keeping to my weekly posting schedule and posting may be sporadic. The story is not being left uncompleted or on hiatus as I will try to write when I can but right now even gardening is a higher priority. I also am looking into breaking this story into a series several chapters from now as I think the beginning half of the story and the last half will be very divergent in tone from each other and tagging requirements. Thank you to all of you who have been enjoying this story and it has been very encouraging to have such great support from fans like you all have been.


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